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Rams players haul sod, lay new field for Boys & Girls Clubs
• By Jack Suntrup
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_a50ac4ff-77a3-531c-8aa0-6592f1523b98.html
ST. LOUIS • Cornelius Johnson sprinted at a dummy, shortening his stride as he got closer. He wrapped his arms around the dummy and flattened it onto the grass — a form tackle from a defensive end in the making.
The sun beat down on Cornelius, 8, and a whole group of other children outside the Herbert Hoover location of the Boys & Girls Clubs on North Grand Avenue on Wednesday.
Music boomed onto the field, and volunteers who work for the St. Louis Rams and Dr Pepper tossed around water bottles.
The volunteers came out to lay sod on the football field — part of a $75,000 facelift for the club’s field. The Rams coordinated the funding and the logistics with the local nonprofit PHL Inc.
The children played around with footballs and hung out — at least for a few minutes — with some of the professional football players who play down the street.
The office staff and Rams players helped unroll and line up approximately 8,200 bundles of sod onto the dirt.
It’s become tradition for the Rams to build a playground every year, but not this time. Flint Fowler, the president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, said the group was thankful the Rams had decided on the field project.
He listed the benefits of playing football: understanding the value of a healthy lifestyle, learning how to work with a team, building confidence, and providing a sense of belonging.
“For our teams, this is our home, and you feel better about a guest coming when you have a great place to show them,” Fowler said. “Some kids have a sense of responsibility, some have a sense of pride, in the field. And I think that translates to how they play.”
Cornelius knew what he was doing when he tackled that dummy. He’d like to play football when he grows up.
“I like having fun and playing sports,” he said.
Rams right guard Jamon Brown started playing when he was 7.
“Football was kind of an escape,” Brown said in between hauling rolls of sod. “For the two hours I was at practice, I was able to forget about all the problems I had at home, all the things I was dealing with.”
He said he hoped the children who play here would be able to take pride in the new field. Maybe a couple of them would even play in the NFL one day.
His advice?
“Just stick with it,” Brown said. “I would love to say what I did to get here was something out of the ordinary, but it really wasn’t nothing like that. It was just me, you know, sticking with it, listening to the people who were trying to guide me in the right direction and just having that drive.”
• By Jack Suntrup
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_a50ac4ff-77a3-531c-8aa0-6592f1523b98.html
ST. LOUIS • Cornelius Johnson sprinted at a dummy, shortening his stride as he got closer. He wrapped his arms around the dummy and flattened it onto the grass — a form tackle from a defensive end in the making.
The sun beat down on Cornelius, 8, and a whole group of other children outside the Herbert Hoover location of the Boys & Girls Clubs on North Grand Avenue on Wednesday.
Music boomed onto the field, and volunteers who work for the St. Louis Rams and Dr Pepper tossed around water bottles.
The volunteers came out to lay sod on the football field — part of a $75,000 facelift for the club’s field. The Rams coordinated the funding and the logistics with the local nonprofit PHL Inc.
The children played around with footballs and hung out — at least for a few minutes — with some of the professional football players who play down the street.
The office staff and Rams players helped unroll and line up approximately 8,200 bundles of sod onto the dirt.
It’s become tradition for the Rams to build a playground every year, but not this time. Flint Fowler, the president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, said the group was thankful the Rams had decided on the field project.
He listed the benefits of playing football: understanding the value of a healthy lifestyle, learning how to work with a team, building confidence, and providing a sense of belonging.
“For our teams, this is our home, and you feel better about a guest coming when you have a great place to show them,” Fowler said. “Some kids have a sense of responsibility, some have a sense of pride, in the field. And I think that translates to how they play.”
Cornelius knew what he was doing when he tackled that dummy. He’d like to play football when he grows up.
“I like having fun and playing sports,” he said.
Rams right guard Jamon Brown started playing when he was 7.
“Football was kind of an escape,” Brown said in between hauling rolls of sod. “For the two hours I was at practice, I was able to forget about all the problems I had at home, all the things I was dealing with.”
He said he hoped the children who play here would be able to take pride in the new field. Maybe a couple of them would even play in the NFL one day.
His advice?
“Just stick with it,” Brown said. “I would love to say what I did to get here was something out of the ordinary, but it really wasn’t nothing like that. It was just me, you know, sticking with it, listening to the people who were trying to guide me in the right direction and just having that drive.”
